Good morning, all!

Father, we know that we don’t always understand Your way, so we ask You to reveal Your love for us. Help us to trust that love especially when we don’t like some of the circumstances and challenges we face in life. Teach us Lord to follow Your word and hear Your voice so that we would bring You honor and glory, Amen.

Isaiah 48

4 Because I knew that thou [art] obstinate, and thy neck [is] an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; …
I know how stubborn you can be and your neck is like an iron rod and your forehead strong as brass.

10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Look for I will refine you not with silver for I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

11 For mine own sake, [even] for mine own sake, will I do [it]: for how should [my name] be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. …
I do this for MY sake, for you bear MY name and I will not let you tarnish it by giving glory to someone other than ME.

14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these [things]? The LORD hath loved him:
Get everyone together to listen, and WHO among you will declare the truth? The Lord LOVES you.

Bottom line

There is NO escaping affliction when you belong to God, in fact, it’s the very place He will come and find us.

[Psa 66:11 KJV] Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Just like fish caught in a net, we’re swimming through life and the next thing you know you’re in His net…this situation that captures you and you can’t get out of it and then God lays it on you…affliction. But notice the affliction it’s on your loins, why our loins?

[Job 40:16 KJV] Lo now, his strength [is] in his loins, and his force [is] in the navel of his belly. What makes are loins…mind…strong? And what is this force…motivation behind it? EGO!!! It creates a FALSE sense of strength and then it creates a desire that usually is in conflict with the will of God, the affliction is really a bruised ego. What else could possibly POLLUTE God’s name besides His children following their ego? Didn’t Jesus tell the disciples to forsake everything and FOLLOW Him? We all FOLLOW one or the other. Verse 4 starts with the strength of ego, it’s stubborn…they’re NEVER wrong…it has iron for a neck…it won’t turn and look to God and last, its forehead is as hard as brass…it’s judgmental, it can find fault with everyone but not them. Does any of that sound like the image and likeness of God? If we live like that, might it tarnish the name of Jesus Christ? It’s the same problem Adam and Eve had in the garden, their ego thought it knew better than God. God told them NOT to eat from the tree of good and evil, but they thought they knew better…EGO. Remember what happened to them?

[Gen 3:15 KJV] And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Hmm…is it possible the affliction is the same as a BRUISED ego which leads to a BRUISED lifestyle? God has to turn up the heat in our life to teach us, change us, strengthen us, and you know why God does this? Verse 14, the Lord LOVES us. God will NOT let us live a life without character and integrity, what Father would turn their back on their own children and watch them live a lesser life? True character is forged in the fire, if NOT tested its likely weak character…it will listen to the lies in their head.

[1Pe 4:12 KJV] Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: We shouldn’t think it strange, and did you notice what He called us concerning the fiery trial He set upon us? He called us beloved NOT sinner, the fire is to TRY us and to reveal who we really are NOT who we are not. What is God trying? Our faith. And what is the test? When you face this fiery trial how will you respond with faith or ego? Well, the answer of faith will likely look like LOVE, if it’s ego it will likely look JUDGMENTAL. Which do you think the Lord is looking for?

[1Pe 4:8 NIV] Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Do you remember that song from the 70s by the Bee Gees, how deep is your love? Is it deep enough to cover my sin and still love me? I mean what else would God consider deeper than that? NOTHING!!! That’s why He started the verse with ABOVE ALL…above what? Love that’s far above all sin, all hurt, all criticism, above all judgmental thoughts and to live NO other way…above ALL is truly above ALL. Call me crazy but maybe the Creator of LOVE knows what it looks like and doesn’t want His children polluting His name…His character. I believe what we’ll find as we go through these trials in life, we’ll see we look more like God NOT less and we begin to pray like Jesus in His darkest hour…NOT my will but YOURS be done!

Point to Ponder

What is the finished product? [Rev 1:15 NIV] His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. We’re NO longer in the furnace but our lifestyle is so bright it glows like one and it rushes to quench the life of others.

Let’s all love deeply and help refresh the world, In Him Phil

Faith – Family – Friends